4th Annual “Soup for Hope Lunch”

Dear Fellow Chamber Member:

We have so much to share with those who make our community thrive. As a valued leader in our local business community, your support drives meaningful change.

We are thrilled to invite you to partner with us as a sponsor for our 4th Annual “Soup for Hope Lunch”. The event will take place October 13th under the Downtown Pavilion 11:30 am – 12:45 pm. With a sponsorship gift of $150, your organization’s name will be prominently displayed at this free event as a public testament to our sincere gratitude for your support. Your gift will ensure we have the funds we need to open on November 2nd. Your check may be made payable to The Refuge and mailed to P.O. Box 44, Gaylord, MI 49734 or you may give electronically on our website otsegorefuge.org. A response by October 8th is requested to ensure event publicity.

The collective impact of community support speaks volumes. Last season, contributions allowed us to provide emergency housing to 289 people, including 63 children, in 185 households, for 1,539 nights. This marks record-breaking support for the fourth consecutive year ensuring every eligible household seeking help received a safe place to stay.

With this momentum, we successfully expanded our local base of financial and operations support increasing public visibility and deeply connecting with our community. We proudly participated in Project Connect and the Senior Expo, hosted our 3rd Annual Soup for Hope Lunch, and held two crucial Town Hall meetings focused on “getting real” about local homelessness.

Furthermore, we walked in the CROP Walk benefiting our partner, Otsego County Food Pantry, volunteered quarterly for the Community Meal Program, and joined the AlpenFest celebration. Despite the heavy smoke on Main Street, our team shared vital information and cookies with passersby, and even entered a float in the AlpenFest Grand Parade. Moving forward, we are excited to continue every single one of these vital activities.

We are delighted to share our most hopeful news yet.

Through direct feedback from our town halls, government meetings, and frontline outreach, we recognized that households facing emergency shelter crises often struggle with systemic income gaps AND internal challenges that make self-sufficiency difficult to achieve alone. Building on our core mission of providing emergency temporary housing to keep people warm, we have a bold new goal in our sights.

We are actively developing a small pilot program, “One Step At a Time”. By providing longer stays for three of our households this coming season, we will match households with local mentors and agencies to provide a host of services to enable households to confront all the challenges in the household (i.e., using employment training to boost income while providing access to existing services to address issues like domestic violence, substance use disorder, illiteracy, mental health challenges, poor money management skills, lack of child care, poor credit and more). The goal is to help households create income and gain life skills critical to attaining self-sufficiency and permanent housing.

We see this new initiative as a powerful step forward – not just for households in need, but for the entire Otsego business landscape. A stable community fosters a stronger, more resilient local economy. We are deeply grateful for your continued dedication to making Otsego County a prosperous, welcoming home for everyone.

Our pilot will begin small and operate concurrently with our traditional housing program. If successful, “One Step” will provide the credibility, experience, and knowledge needed to scale the program and create lasting impact in our community.

Isn’t that exciting?

We would appreciate your sponsorship gift, if you can. Regardless, please come, bring your staff/workers/family/friends, and take advantage of the chance to briefly walk in a homeless person’s shoes by sampling a menu of simple soup and sandwiches served in the tradition of an outdoor homeless soup kitchen. Thank you so much for all you continue to do for your community.

With gratitude,

The Refuge Team

P.S. We have also provided an event flyer for display or use in your place of business if you can help to advertise this event. Also enclosed is information that when copied, cut into quarters, and made publicly available, is an easy and discreet way you can help to make The Refuge services known to people who are homeless.

Refuge Board of Directors

Matt McCormick, President; Kathy Musto, Vice President; Ron Borowiak; Treasurer; Kathy Rivers, Secretary; and Board Members Judi Doan, Jaime Gabriel, Kelly Korson, Ray Rivers and Sue Smith